He was the fourth generation of his family to lead S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., a consumer products company headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin.
The son of Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr., he turned a relatively small wax company into a multibillion-dollar global household name.
When a company is diversified into various fields, it is rarely seriously vulnerable to the ups and downs that ravage individual business.
In 1958, Johnson became vice president of the newly formed New Service Products Division and in 1960, he moved to London and served the company as European regional director.
It was in this capacity that he noticed other American products on a store shelf in Italy and became determined to never again be late to a global market.
Johnson further diversified his company's offerings in 1979 when he established Worldwide Innochem, a specialty chemical business.
Johnson's foray into diversification for his one-time wax-only family business included expanding into the outdoors industry in 1970.
Johnson was committed to environmental causes, stating, "We must make sure that we step softly on the land... Once you destroy an old growth forest, or a special plant in the Amazon, or a reef around an atoll, it's gone forever.
"[2] Johnson was one of the first business leaders to recognize the danger to the Earth's ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a then-popular propellant in aerosol products, voluntarily banning the substance from all of S.C. Johnson's products in 1975 to the shock and anger of many people inside the company and across the nation.
[12] The then-unproven scientific research led Johnson to publish a letter to the public explaining his decision.
Said Johnson of his involvement with the council, "We aggressively seek out eco-efficiencies--ways of doing more with less--because it makes us more competitive when we reduce and eliminate waste and risk from our products and processes.
[16] In 2003, Johnson personally financed an in-depth, grass-roots driven campaign against Wisconsin Energy Corporation's proposal to build three new coal plants in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, stating, "I think their choice is a terrible mistake considering the health and quality of life risks that coal presents.
"[17] The campaign, organized under the moniker of RESET (Responsible Energy for Southeastern Wisconsin's Tomorrow), consisted of print and radio ads as well as a public affairs education program.
Citing that the already-existent seventeen Wisconsin coal plants produced 60% more smog-forming nitric oxide pollution and 63% more soot-producing sulfur oxide pollution than that allowed by the Clean Air Act,[18] the group delayed but failed to derail new coal plant construction.
In addition to his environmental work, Johnson greatly contributed to education, better health, and greater opportunities for the people of his community and around the world.
[4] Said Johnson in 1988, "For voluntarism to take hold as part of a company's culture, there must be a key executive who sets the example by personal involvement....
I spend a good twenty to thirty percent of my time, or about two days of every seven, on what I call 'not-for-profit' activities.... Raising money is only one part of voluntarism; indeed it is not the most important.
[21] Johnson donated the collection to the Smithsonian Institution in the mid-sixties citing its value because it had "reached people around the world" and "enhanced the company's reputation for doing the unusual in the name of excellence.
"[21] Johnson served as a Trustee Emeritus and Presidential Councillor at Cornell University, his alma mater.
According to Johnson there was "a need in our community to augment our respected public school system with a curriculum and a learning environment to develop individual student achievement in a college preparatory program.
Johnson undertook the journey, documented in a 2001 film called Carnauba: A Son's Memoir, in a replica Sikorsky S-38 amphibious plane like the one his father used.